1844 


1 


j 


HOME  9437 


R    F.  D..   NO    2.   Box   32O 


JOHN  T.  JUDKINS 


KENSINGTON  PARK 


SAN    DIEGO.    CAL. 


FAC  SIMILES  OF  LETTERS 


FROM    HIS     EXCELLENCY 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON, 


TO 


SIR    JOHN    SINCLAIR,    BART.,    M.    P. 


FAC  SIMILES  OF  LETTERS 


FROM  HIS  EXCELLENCY 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 


TO 


SIR  JOHN  SINCLAIR,  BART,,  M,  P 


ON 


AGRICULTURAL   AND   OTHER    INTERESTING  TOPICS; 


ENGRAVED  FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  LETTERS,  SO  AS  TO  BE  AN  EXACT  FAC  SIMILE 

OF  THE  HAND-WRITING. 


WASHINGTON: 
PUBLISHED  BY  FRANKLIN  KNIGHT. 

E.  G.  DORSE Y,  PRINTER,  PHILADELPHIA. 

1844. 


TO 
THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

THE  FOLLOWING 

LETTERS, 

WRITTEN  BY 

THE  ILLUSTRIOUS  WASHINGTON, 

WHO  MUST  EVER  BE  REVERED, 


AS 


AN  HONOUR  TO  THE  COUNTRY  WHERE  HE  WAS  BORN, 


AND 


AN   ORNAMENT   TO    HUMAN    NATURE, 

ARE  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED, 


BY 


THEIR   SINCERE  FRIEND,  AND  WELL-WISHER, 

JOHN  SINCLAIR. 


282626 


PREFACE. 


A  VARIETY  of  motives,  which  it  may  be  proper  briefly  to  state,  have  induced  me 
to  submit  the  following  Letters  to  the  attention  of  the  public. 

It  could  not  but  be  highly  gratifying  to  me,  to  be  possessed  of  so  many  interesting 
communications  from  such  a  distinguished  character  as  the  President  of  the  United 
States;  and  it  was  natural  to  suppose,  that  the  public  at  large,  but  more  especially 
those  individuals  who  revered  his  memory,  would  wish  to  have  in  their  possession 
copies  of  a  correspondence  which  displayed  to  such  advantage  the  superior  talents, 
the  generous  views,  and  the  unbounded  philanthropy  of  that  celebrated  statesman. 

The  peculiar  predilection  which  General  WASHINGTON  has  so  strongly  and  so 
frequently  expressed,  in  the  subsequent  letters,  for  agricultural  improvement,  which 
he  preferred  to  every  other  pursuit,  is  another  circumstance  which  I  was  anxious 
should  be  recorded  for  the  benefit  both  of  the  present  and  of  future  times,  from  a 
desire  that  it  may  make  a  due  impression  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  might 
otherwise  be  induced  to  dedicate  themselves  entirely,  either  to  the  phantoms  of 
military  fame,  or  the  tortures  of  political  ambition. 

The  praises  which  this  distinguished  statesman  has  bestowed  on  the  establishment 


8 

of  the  British  Board  of  Agriculture,  ("an  Institution,"  he  remarks,  "of  the  utility 
of  which  he  entertained  the  most  favourable  idea  from  the  first  intimation  of  it; 
and  that  the  more  he  had  seen  and  reflected  on  the  plan  since,  the  more  convinced 
he  was  of  its  importance,  in  a  national  point  of  view,  not  only  to  Great  Britain,  but 
to  all  other  countries,"*)  I  was  solicitous  to  record,  as  one  means  of  protecting  that 
valuable  establishment  from  the  risk  to  which  it  may  be  exposed  from  the  ignorance 
or  inattention  of  future  ministers,  who,  incapable  of  estimating  the  merits  of  such 
an  Institution  themselves,  or  conceiving  the  advantages  that  may  be  derived  from 
it,  might  heedlessly,  either  diminish  the  sphere  of  its  utility,  or  terminate  its 
existence. 

The  wishes  which  the  founder  of  the  American  Republic  has  expressed  for 
having  a  similar  establishment  in  America,  I  also  judged  it  expedient  to  publish,  in 
the  hope  that  the  recommendation  of  so  great  a  man  will  ultimately  be  adopted 
as  soon  as  the  necessary  arrangements  for  that  purpose  can  be  made  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States. 

It  may  now  be  proper  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  origin  of  the  following 
correspondence. 

About  the  year  1790, 1  began  to  be  engaged  in  those  extensive  inquiries  relating 
to  the  general  state  of  my  native  country,  and  the  means  of  promoting  its 
improvement,  which  were  not  only  interesting  to  Great  Britain,  but  to  every 
civilized  part  of  the  world;  and  having  resolved  to  send  the  first  papers  which  were 

*  See  Letter  No.  III.,  10th  July,  1795. 


9 

printed  on  those  subjects  to  several  distinguished  characters  in  foreign  and  distant 
countries,  I  could  not  think  of  neglecting  an  individual  so  pre-eminently  conspicuous 
as  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America.  In  answer  to  the  first  letter  I 
had  the  honour  of  addressing  to  him,  I  received  the  communication  No.  I.,  dated 
the  20th  day  of  October,  1792. 

I  embraced  every  opportunity  of  transmitting,  from  time  to  time,  the  additional 
papers  which  were  afterwards  printed  on  the  subjects  of  our  correspondence, 
accompanied  by  letters,  of  only  one  of  which  I  have  a  copy,  in  which  I  endeavoured 
to  demonstrate  the  advantages  which  might  be  derived  from  establishing  a  Board 

o  o  o 

of  Agriculture  in  America.  Of  that  letter,  I  beg  leave  to  subjoin  the  following 
extract,  as  it  tends  to  explain  more  fully  General  WASHINGTON'S  answer  of  the  6th 
day  of  March,  1797,  stating  the  circumstances  which  at  that  time  prevented  the 
immediate  adoption  of  that  measure. 

EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  SIR  JOHN  SINCLAIR  TO  GENERAL  WASHINGTON, 
DATED  WHITEHALL,  LONDON,  IOTH  SEPTEMBER,  1796. 

"  The  people  of  this  country,  as  well  as  of  America,  learn,  with  infinite  regret, 
that  you  propose  resigning  your  situation  as  President  of  the  United  States.  I 
shall  not  enter  into  the  discussion  of  a  question  of  which  I  am  incompetent  to 
judge;  but,  if  it  be  so,  I  hope  that  you  will  recommend  some  Agricultural 
establishment  on  a  great  scale  before  you  quit  the  reins  of  government.  By  that  I 
mean  a  Board  of  Agriculture,  or  some  similar  institution,  at  Philadelphia,  with 
Societies  of  Agriculture  in  the  capital  of  each  state,  to  correspond  with  it.  Such 
an  establishment  would  soon  enable  the  farmers  of  America  to  acquire  agricultural 
2 


10 

knowledge,  and,  what  is  of  equal  importance,  afford  them  the  means  of  communi 
cating  what  they  have  learnt  to  their  countrymen. 

"  I  scarcely  think  that  any  government  can  be  properly  constituted  without  such 
an  establishment.  As  mere  individuals,  four  things  are  necessary:  1,  food;  2, 
clothing;  3,  shelter;  4,  mental  improvement.  As  members  of  a  large  community, 
four  other  particulars  seem  to  be  essential;  namely:  1,  property;  2,  marriage;  3. 
laws  for  our  direction  in  this  world;  and,  4,  religion  to  prepare  us  for  another. 
But  the  foundation  of  the  whole  is  food,  and  that  country  must  be  the  happiest 
where  that  sine  qua  non  can  be  most  easily  obtained.  The  surest  means  of  securing 
abundance  of  food,  however,  is  by  ascertaining  the  best  mode  of  raising  it,  and 
rousing  a  spirit  of  improvement  for  that  purpose,  for  both  of  which  the  countenance 
and  protection  of  the  government  of  a  country,  through  the  medium  of  some  public 
establishment,  is  essential.  The  trifling  expense  for  which  such  an  institution  might 
be  supported  is  another  argument  in  its  favour. 

"  I  am  induced  more  particularly  to  dwell  upon  this  circumstance,  as  it  might  be 
in  my  power,  on  various  occasions,  to  give  useful  hints  to  America,  were  I  satisfied 
that  they  would  be  duly  weighed,  and  if  approved  of,  acted  upon.  For  instance,  you 
will  herewith  receive  some  Egyptian  wheat,  which  produces  at  the  rate  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  bushels  per  English  acre.  Indeed,  without  such  a  grain,  so 
narrow  a  country  as  Egypt  could  never  have  fed  such  multitudes  of  people  as  it 
did  in  ancient  times.  I  have  no  doubt  of  its  thriving  in  America  equally  well.  It 
also  recently  occurred  to  me,  that  in  the  southern  states,  other  plants,  as  the  New 
Zealand  kind  of  hemp,  might  be  raised  in  great  perfection.  But  to  introduce  any 
new  article  of  produce,  the  countenance,  and  in  some  cases  the  assistance,  of  the 


11 

• 

« 

government  of  a  state  is  necessary.  When  once,  however,  the  practicability  of 
cultivating  any  article  is  ascertained,  it  cannot  b«  of  any  real  advantage  to  a  nation 
if  it  stand  in  need  of  legislative  aid. 

"  But  I  have  already  tired  your  Excellency  with  too  long  a  dissertation,  which  I 
am  persuaded  you  will  attribute  to  its  real  cause,  enthusiasm  in  favour  of 
Agriculture,  and  respect  for  so  valuable  a  friend  to  it  as  General  WASHINGTON. 
For  other  particulars,  I  must  refer  to  our  intelligent  friend  Doctor  EDWARDS,  to 
whose  charge  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  delivering  a  parcel,  with  some  papers  we 
have  lately  printed,  &c. 

"  It  will  give  me  much  pleasure  to  be  of  any  use  to  Mr.  KING,  Mr.  GORE,  or  Mr. 
PINCKNEY,  during  their  residence  in  England.  Indeed,  I  have  always  felt  a  strong 
desire  of  showing  every  attention  in  my  power  to  any  American  gentleman  who 
may  have  visited  this  country;  for  though  our  governments  are  now  distinct,  the 
people  are  in  fact  the  same,  without  any  possible  inducement  to  quarrel,  if  they 
knew  their  respective  interests,  and  with  every  reason  to  wish  each  other  well,  and 
to  promote  their  mutual  prosperity. 

"  Before  I  conclude,  permit  me  to  ask,  is  there  no  chance  of  seeing  General 
WASHINGTON  in  England?  I  should  be  proud  of  his  accepting  an  apartment  in  my 
house,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  would  meet  with  the  most  flattering  reception  in  every 
part  of  the  Island,  but  from  none  with  more  real  attachment  and  regard,  than 
from,  &c." 

As  it  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  a  person  in  such  an  exalted  situation  as 


12 

• 

» 

General  WASHINGTON,  should  have  leisure  to  write,  with  his  own  hand,  so  many 
letters  to  an  entire  stranger,  and  s»me  of  them  of  considerable  length,  I  have  been 
induced  to  have  them  engraved  in  order  to  represent  the  hand-writing  of  their 
celebrated  author:  they  are  exact  copies  of  those  received  by  me.  It  is  proposed 
to  deposit  the  originals  in  the  British  Museum,  as  the  precious  relics  of  a  great 
man,  fit  to  be  preserved  in  that  valuable  repository. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add,  that  the  following  collection  contains  all  the  letters  I 
have  received,  with  the  exception  of  two,  the  first  of  which  was  marked  private,  and 
is  mentioned  in  General  WASHINGTON'S  letters  of  the  15th  of  July,  and  6th  of 
November,  1797.  It  is  a  long  and  interesting  paper,  which,  however,  it  would  not 
be  proper  to  publish  at  this  time.  The  other  letter  was  of  a  late  date,  and  alludes 
to  circumstances  of  a  nature  which  it  would  be  improper  at  present  to  communicate 
to  the  public. 

To  conclude,  I  hope  that  these  letters  will  not  only  furnish  much  satisfactory 
information  to  the  reader,  as  containing  the  sentiments  of  General  WASHINGTON  on 
agricultural  and  other  important  subjects,  but  will  also  display,  to  peculiar  advan 
tage,  the  character  of  the  much  respected  author;  and  with  the  profits  of  the 
publication  I  trust  it  will  be  in  my  power  to  pay  a  proper  tribute  of  respect  to  the 
memory  of  one,  who,  though  the  immediate  cause  of  the  separation  between  Great 
Britain  and  America,  yet  is  the  person  to  whom,  in  a  great  measure,  is  to  be 
ascribed  the  good  understanding  \vhich  now  so  happily  subsists  between  the  two 
countries;  and  whose  character  must  ever  be  revered,  even  by  those  with  whom  he 
contended,  either  in  war  or  politics,  as  containing  as  much  good,  with  as  little  alloy, 
as  that  of  any  individual  whose  memory  is  recorded  in  history. 

LONDON,  29  Parliament  Street,  1st  March,  1800. 


SINCE  this  Work  was  sent  to  the  press,  I  find  that  one  of  General  WASHINGTON'S 
most  interesting  letters  has  been  lost.  There  is  fortunately,  however,  an  extract 
from  it  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Communications  published  by  the  Board  of 
Agriculture,  (p.  374,)  a  copy  of  which  I  beg  leave  to  lay  before  the  reader,  from 
that  publication. 


EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  HIS  EXCELLENCY  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  DATED 

PHILADELPHIA,  IOTH  DECEMBER,  1796. 

"  The  result  of  the  experiments  entrusted  to  the  care  of  Dr.  FORDYCE,  must  be  as 
curious  as  they  may  prove  interesting  to  the  science  of  husbandry.  Not  less  so 
will  be  an  intelligent  solution  of  those  queries  relative  to  live  stock,  which  are 
handed  to  the  public. 

"A  few  months  more,  say  the  3d  of  March  next,  (1797,)  and  the  scenes  of  my 
political  life  will  close,  and  leave  me  in  the  shades  of  retirement;  when,  if  a  few 
years  are  allowed  me  to  enjoy  it,  (many  I  cannot  expect,  being  upon  the  verge  of 
sixty-five,)  and  health  is  continued  to  me,  I  shall  peruse  with  pleasure  and 
edification  the  fruits  of  the  exertions  of  the  Board  for  the  improvement  of 
agriculture;  and  shall  have  leisure,  I  trust,  to  realize  some  of  the  useful  discoveries 
which  have  been  made  in  the  science  of  husbandry. 

"Until  the  above  period  shall  have  arrived,  and  particularly  during  the  present 


14 

session  of  Congress,  which  commenced  the  5th  instant,  I  can  give  but  little 
attention  to  matters  out  of  the  line  of  my  immediate  avocations.  I  did  not, 
however,  omit  the  occasion,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  to  call  the  attention  of 
that  body  to  the  importance  of  agriculture.  What  will  be  the  result,  I  know  not  at 
present;  but  if  it  should  be  favourable,  the  hints  which  you  will  have  it  in  your 
power  to  give  cannot  fail  of  being  gratefully  received  by  the  members  who  may 
constitute  the  Board." 


EXTRACT  FROM  GENERAL  WASHINGTON'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  OPENING  OF 
CONGRESS,  STH  DECEMBER  1796. 

"  It  will  not  be  doubted,  that,  with  reference  either  to  individual  or  national 
welfare,  Agriculture  is  of  primary  importance.  In  proportion  as  nations  advance 
in  population  and  other  circumstances  of  maturity,  this  truth  becomes  more 
apparent,  and  renders  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  more  and  more  an  object  of  public 
patronage.  Institutions  for  promoting  it  grow  up,  supported  by  the  public  purse; 
and  to  what  object  can  it  be  dedicated  with  greater  propriety?  Among  the  means 
which  have  been  employed  to  this  end,  none  have  been  attended  with  greater 
success  than  the  establishment  of  Boards,  composed  of  proper  characters,  charged 
with  collecting  and  diffusing  information,  and  enabled  by  premiums,  and  small 
pecuniary  aid,  to  encourage  and  assist  a  spirit  of  discovery  and  improvement. 
This  species  of  establishment  contributes  doubly  to  the  increase  of  improvement,  by 
stimulating  to  enterprise  and  experiment,  and  by  drawing  to  a  common  centre,  the 
results  everywhere  of  individual  skill  and  observation,  and  spreading  them  thence 
over  the  whole  nation.  Experience  accordingly  has  shown,  that  they  are  very 
cheap  instruments  of  immense  national  benefits." 


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ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  GENERAL  WASHINGTON. 


WHOEVER  has  perused  the  preceding  Letters  will,  I  trust,  concur  with  me  in  the 
following  reflections. 

1.  That  nothing  could  possibly  place  the  character  of  this  distinguished  statesman 
in  a  more   estimable  light,  than  that   of  beholding  the    same   individual,  whose 
military  exploits  had  spread  his  fame  over  the  universe,  and  who  had  been  invested 
with  supreme  power  in  the  country  where  he  was  born,  in  the  midst  of  all  his 
various  public  avocations,  carrying  on  an  extensive  correspondence  with  the  nat 
of  a  distant  country,  on  agricultural  and  other  general  inquiries  of  a  similar  natuL 

> 

2.  That   those   who   are   blest  with   a   reflecting   and  philosophic   mind,  must 
contemplate  with  pleasure  and  delight  a  person,  elevated  by  the  voice  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  to  the  summit  of  political  authority,  who,  instead  of  wishing  to  aggrandize 
himself,  and  to  extend  his  power,  was  anxiously  bent  to  quit  that  situation,  to  which 
so  many  others  would  have  fondly  aspired,  and  to  return  to  the  comfort  and 
enjoyment  of  private  life;  belying  thus  the  insinuations  of  those  malignant  spirits 
who  are  perpetually  railing  against  the  talents  and  virtues  which,  conscious  of 
wanting  themselves,  they  do  not  believe  that  others  can  possess. 

3.  Is  there,  on  the  whole,  any  individual,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  history, 
who  has  prouder  claims  to  distinction  and  pre-eminence,  than  the  great  character 

7 


62 

whose  letters  this  volume  contains?  His  military  talents  were  early  celebrated; 
first  in  the  service  of  Great  Britain,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  America.  His 
powers  as  a  statesman,  and  as  the  founder  of  a  Constitution,  which,  with  British 
prejudices,  I  may  consider  as  inferior  to  our  own,  but  which  promises  to  secure  the 
happiness  of  the  great  nation  it  was  formed  to  govern,  cannot  possibly  be 
questioned.  His  public  virtue,  as  the  uncorrupted  magistrate  of  a  free  people,  who 
reluctantly  received  supreme  authority,  when  it  was  judged  necessary  for  the  public 
good  for  him  to  assume  it,  and  who  anxiously  wished  to  resign  it  into  their  hands, 
when  it  could  be  done  with  public  safety,  can  hardly  be  equalled  in  history.  His 
literary  endowments  were  unquestionably  of  a  superior  order.  His  letters  in  this 
collection,  his  addresses  to  the  American  Congress,  and  his  farewell  oration  when 
he  quitted,  for  the  last  time,  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  are  models  of 
£r*oh  species  of  composition.  His  closing  a  well-spent  life,  after  a  short  illness, 
without  having  his  strength  or  faculties  impaired  by  any  previous  disorder,  or  any 
untoward  circumstances  having  occurred  that  could  materially  affect  his  feelings,  or 
c  ould  possibly  tarnish  his  fame,  is  an  uncommon  instance  of  good  fortune.  The 
$c;ene  in  which  he  acted  also,  and  the  object  which  he  achieved,  are  the  most 
Memorable  which  history  furnishes.  For  it  was  such  a  man  alone,  who,  by 
combining  the  force  and  commanding  the  confidence  of  thirteen  separate  states, 
could  have  dissolved  those  ties  which  subjected  America  to  Europe,  and  to  whom 
the  political  separation  of  two  worlds  is  to  be  attributed.  But,  above  all,  what 
distinguished  this  celebrated  warrior  arid  statesman  is,  that  to  all  those  military  and 
public  talents,  and  to  those  literary  endowments,  which  are  so  rarely  united  in  the 
same  person,  he  added  the  practice  of  every  virtue  that  could  adorn  the  private 
individual.  It  were  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt  adequately  to  express  the  ideas  I 
entertain  of  a  character,  in  every  respect  so  peculiarly  splendid.  The  pen  of  the 


63 

immortal  Shakspeare  is  alone  competent  to  the  task,  and  on  the  tombstone  of  the 
illustrious  WASHINGTON  let  it  be  engraved — 

His  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 

So  mix'd  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 

And  say  to  all  the  world, —  This  was  a  man, 

take  him  for  all  in  all, 

We  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again* 

*  Julius  Ca3sar,  Act  V.  Scene  5 ;  and  Hamlet,  Act  I.  Scene  2. 


A  TRUE  AND  BEAUTIFUL  PORTRAIT 


or  THE 


CHARACTER  OF  GENERAL  WASHINGTON, 

BY  THE 

LATE  HONORABLE  GEORGE  CANNING, 

PRIME  MINISTER  OP  ENGLAND. 

* 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON  was,  we  believe,  in  his  sixty-eighth  year.  The  height  ot 
his  person  was  about  five-feet  eleven;  his  chest  full,  and  his  limbs,  though  rather 
slender,  well  shaped  and  muscular.  His  head  was  small,  in  which  respect  he 
resembled  the  make  of  a  great  number  of  his  countrymen.  His  eyes  were  of  a 
very  light  grey  colour;  and,  in  proportion  to  the  length  of  his  face,  his  nose  was 
long.  Mr.  STEWART,  the  eminent  portrait  painter,  used  to  say,  there  were  features 
in  his  face  totally  different  from  what  he  had  ever  observed  in  that  of  any  other 
human  being;  the  sockets  of  his  eyes,  for  instance,  were  larger  than  he  had  ever 
met  with  before,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  nose  broader.  All  his  features,  he 
observed,  were  indicative  of  the  strongest  passions,  yet,  like  SOCRATES,  his 
judgment,  and  great  self-command,  have  always  made  him  appear  a  man  of  different 
character  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  He  always  spoke  with  great  diffidence,  and 
sometimes  hesitated  for  a  word,  but  it  was  always  to  find  one  particularly  well 
calculated  to  express  his  meaning.  His  language  was  manly  and  expressive.  At 


65 

levee,  his  discourse  with  strangers  turned  principally  upon  the  subject  of  America; 
and  if  they  had  been  through  any  remarkable  places,  his  conversation  was  free  and 
particularly  interesting,  for  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with  every  part  of  the 
country.  He  was  much  more  open  and  free  in  his  behaviour  at  the  levee  than  in 
private,  and  in  the  company  of  ladies,  still  more  so,  than  when  solely  with  men. 
Few  persons  ever  found  themselves  for  the  first  time  in  the  company  of  General 
WASHINGTON,  without  being  impressed  with  a  certain  degree  of  veneration  and  awe; 
nor  did  those  emotions  subside  on  a  closer  acquaintance;  on  the  contrary,  his 
person  and  deportment,  were  such,  as  rather  tended  to  augment  them.  The  whole 
range  of  history  does  not  present  to  our  view,  a  character,  upon  which  we  can 
dwell  with  such  entire  and  unmixed  admiration.  The  long  life  of  General  Wash 
ington^  is  not  stained  by  a  single  blot. 

He  was  indeed  a  man  of  such  rare  endowments,  and  such  fortunate  temperament, 
that  every  action  he  performed,  was  alike  exempted  from  the  character  of  vice  or 
weakness.  Whatever  he  said,  or  did,  or  wrote,  was  stamped  with  a  striking  and 
peculiar  propriety.  All  his  qualities  were  so  happily  blended,  and  so  nicely 
harmonized,  that  the  result  was  a  great  and  perfect  whole;  the  powers  of  his  mind, 
and  the  dispositions  of  his  heart,  were  admirably  suited  to  each  other.  It  was  the 
union  of  the  most  consummate  prudence,  with  the  most  perfect  moderation.  His 
views,  though  large  and  liberal,  were  not  extravagant;  his  virtues,  though  compre 
hensive  and  beneficent,  were  discriminating,  judicious,  and  practical;  yet  his 
character,  though  regular  and  uniform,  possessed  none  of  the  littleness  which  may 
sometimes  belong  to  those  descriptions  of  men.  It  was  formed  a  majestic  pile,  the 
effect  of  which  was  not  impaired,  but  improved  by  order  and  symmetry;  there  was 
nothing  in  it  to  dazzle  by  wildness,  or  surprise  by  eccentricity.  It  was  a  higher 


66 

species  of  moral  beauty;  it  contained  everything  great  and  elevated,  but  it  had  no 
false  and  tinsel  ornament;  it  was  not  the  model  cried  up  by  fashion  and  circum 
stance;  its  excellence  was  adapted  to  the  true  and  just  moral  taste,  incapable  of 
change  from  the  varying  accidents  of  manners  and  opinions. 

General  WASHINGTON  is  not  the  Idol  of  a  day,  but  the  Hero  of  ages!  Placed  in 
circumstances  of  the  most  trying  difficulty  at  the  beginning  of  the  American  contest, 
he  accepted  that  situation  which  was  pre-eminent  in  danger  and  responsibility. 
His  perseverance  overcame  every  obstacle,  conciliated  every  opposition;  his  genius 
supplied  every  resource.  His  enlarged  views  could  plan,  revise,  and  improve  every 
branch  of  civil  and  military  operation.  He  had  the  superior  courage  which  can  act, 
or  forbear  to  act.  as  true  policy  dictates,  careless  of  the  reproaches  of  ignorance, 
either  in  power,  or  out  of  power.  He  knew  how  to  conquer  by  waiting  in  spite  of 
obloquy,  for  the  moment  of  victory,  and  he  merited  true  praise  by  despising 
unmerited  censure. 

In  the  most  arduous  movements  of  the  contest,  his  prudent  firmness  proved  the 
salvation  of  the  cause  which  he  supported.  His  conduct  was  on  all  occasions 
guided  by  the  most  pure  disinterestedness.  Far  superior  to  low  and  grovelling 
motives,  he  seemed  even  to  be  uninfluenced  by  that  ambition  which  has  justly  been 
called,  the  instinct  of  great  souls.  He  acted  ever  as  if  his  country's  welfare,  and 
that  alone,  was  the  moving  spring.  His  excellent  mind  needed  not  even  the  stimulus 
of  ambition,  or  the  prospect  of  fame.  Glory  was  but  a  secondary  consideration. 
He  performed  great  actions,  he  persevered  in  a  course  of  laborious  utility,  with  an 
equanimity  that  neither  sought  distinction,  nor  was  flattered  by  it ;  his  reward  was 
in  the  consciousness  of  his  rectitude,  and  in  the  success  of  his  patriotic  efforts. 


67 

As  his  elevation  to  the  chief  power  was  the  unbiassed  choice  of  his  countrymen, 
his  exercise  of  it  was  agreeable  to  the  purity  of  its  origin;  as  he  had  neither  solicited 
nor  usurped  dominion,  he  had  neither  to  contend  with  rivals,  nor  the  revenge  of 
enemies.  As  his  authority  was  undisputed,  so  it  required  no  jealous  precautions, 
no  rigorous  severity.  His  government  was  mild  and  gentle;  it  was  beneficent  and 
liberal;  it  was  wise  and  just;  his  prudent  administration,  consolidated  and  enlarged 
the  dominion  of  an  infant  republic. 

In  voluntarily  resigning  the  Magistracy  which  he  had  filled  with  such  distinguished 
honour,  he  enjoyed  the  unequalled  satisfaction  of  leaving  to  the  state,  he  had 
contributed  to  establish,  the  fruits  of  his  wisdom,  and  the  example  of  his  virtues.  It 
is  some  consolation  amidst  the  violence  of  ambition,  and  the  criminal  thirst  of 
power,  of  which  so  many  instances  occur  around  us,  to  find  a  character  whom  it  is 
honourable  to  admire,  and  virtuous  to  imitate.  A  conqueror  for  the  freedom  of  his 
country!  a  legislator  for  its  security!  a  magistrate  for  its  happiness!  his  glories 
were  never  sullied  by  those  excesses  into  which  the  highest  qualities  are  apt  to 
degenerate.  With  the  greatest  virtues,  he  was  exempt  from  the  corresponding 
vices.  He  was  a  man  in  whom  the  elements  seemed  so  blended,  that  "Nature 
might  have  stood  up  to  all  the  world,"  and  owned  him  as  her  work.  His  fame, 
bound  to  no  country,  will  be  confined  to  no  age. 

The  character  of  General  WASHINGTON,  which  his  contemporaries  regret  and 
admire,  will  be  transmitted  to  posterity,  and  the  memory  of  his  virtues,  while 
patriotism  and  virtue  are  held  sacred  among  men,  will  remain  undiminished! 

Peace  to  the  memory  of  a  man  of  Worth! 


APPENDIX 


No.  I. 


THE  'FOLLOWING  IS  AN  OFFICIAL  AND  PARTICULAR  ACCOUNT  OF  THE   ILLNESS  AND  DEATH  OF 

THE  ILLUSTRIOUS  WASHINGTON,  AS  PUBLISHED  BY  THE  PHYSICIANS  WHO  ATTENDED  HIM. 

% 

SOME  time  in  the  night  of  Friday,  the  13th  December,  having  been  exposed  to  a 
rain  on  the  preceding  day,  General  WASHINGTON  was  attacked  with  an  inflam 
matory  affection  of  the  upper  part  of  the  windpipe,  called  in  technical  language, 
cynanche  trachealis.  The  disease  commenced  with  a  violent  ague,  accompanied 
with  some  pain  in  the  upper  and  fore  part  of  the  throat,  a  sense  of  stricture  in  the 
same  part,  a  cough,  and  a  difficult  rather  than  a  painful  deglutition,  which  were 
soon  succeeded  by  fever,  and  a  quick  and  laborious  respiration.  The  necessity  of 
blood-letting  suggesting  itself  to  the  General,  he  procured  a  bleeder  in  the 
neighbourhood,  who  took  from  his  arm,  in  the  night,  twelve  or  fourteen  ounces  of 
blood.  He  would  not  by  any  means  be  prevailed  upon  by  the  family  to  send  for 
the  attending  physician  till  the  following  morning,  who  arrived  at  Mount  Vernon  at 
about  eleven  o'clock  on  Saturday.  Discovering  the  case  to  be  highly  alarming, 
and  foreseeing  the  fatal  tendency  of  the  disease,  two  consulting  physicians  were 
immediately  sent  for,  who  arrived,  one  at  half  after  three,  the  other  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  In  the  interim  were  employed  two  copious  bleedings,  a  blister 
was  applied  to  the  part  affected,  two  moderate  doses  of  calomel  were  given,  and  an 
8 


70 

injection  was  administered,  which  operated  on  the  lower  intestines — but  all  without 
any  perceptible  advantage,  the  respiration  becoming  still  more  difficult  and  dis 
tressing. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  first  of  the  consulting  physicians,  it  was  agreed,  as  there 
were  yet  no  signs  of  accumulation  in  the  bronchial  vessels  of  the  lungs,  to  try  the 
result  of  another  bleeding,  when  about  thirty-two  ounces  of  blood  were  drawn, 
without  the  smallest  apparent  alleviation  of  the  disease.  Vapours  of  vinegar  and 
water  were  frequently  inhaled;  ten  grains  of  calomel  were  given,  succeeded  by 
repeated  doses  of  emetic  tartar,  amounting  in  all  to  five  or  six  grains,  with  no  other 
effect  than  a  copious  discharge  from  the  bowels.  The  powers  of  life  seemed  now 
manifestly  yielding  to  the  force  of  the  disorder.  Blisters  were  applied  to  the 
extremities,  together  with  a  cataplasm  of  bran  and  vinegar  to  the  throat. 
Speaking,  which  was  painful  from  the  beginning,  now  became  almost  impracticable; 
respiration  grew  more  and  more  contracted  and  imperfect,  till  half  after  eleven 
o'clock  on  Saturday  night,  retaining  the  full  possession  of  his  intellect,  when  he 
expired  without  a  struggle. 

He  was  fully  impressed  at  the  beginning  of  his  complaint,  as  well  as  through 
every  succeeding  stage  of  it,  that  its  conclusion  would  be  mortal;  submitting  to  the 
several  exertions  made  for  his  recovery  rather  as  a  duty,  than  from  any  expectation 
of  their  efficacy.  He  considered  the  operations  of  death  upon  his  system  as  coeval 
with  the  disease;  and  several  hours  before  his  decease,  after  repeated  efforts  to  be 
understood,  succeeded  in  expressing  a  desire  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  die 
without  interruption. 


71 

During  the  short  period  of  his  illness,  he  economized  his  time  in  the  arrangement 
of  such  few  concerns  as  required  his  attention,  with  the  utmost  serenity,  and 
anticipated  his  approaching  dissolution  with  every  demonstration  of  that  equanimity 
for  which  his  whole  life  has  been  so  uniformly  and  singularly  conspicuous. 

• 

JAMES  CRAIK,  Attending  Physician. 
ELISHA  C.  DICK,  Consulting  Physician. 


72 

.         No.  II. 

THE  melancholy  event  of  General  WASHINGTON'S  Death  was  announced  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  in  the  following  Letter  from  Mr.  LEAR,  who  is 
mentioned  by  the  General  in  his  Letter  of  July  20th,  1794. 

• 

MOUNT  VERNON,  Dec.  16,  1799. 
SIR, 

IT  is  with  inexpressible  grief  that  I  have  to  announce  to  you  the  death  of  the 
great  and  good  General  WASHINGTON.  He  died  last  evening  between  ten  and 
eleven  o'clock,  after  a  short  illness  of  about  twenty-four  hours.  His  disorder  was 
an  inflammatory  sore  throat,  which  proceeded  from  a  cold,  of  which  he  made  but 
little  complaint  on  Friday.  On  Saturday  morning  about  three  o'clock  he  became 
ill.  Dr.  DICK  attended  him  in  the  morning,  and  Dr.  CRAIK,  of  Alexandria,  and  Dr. 
BROWN,  of  Port  Tobacco,  were  soon  after  called  in.  Every  medical  assistance  was 
afforded,  but  without  the  desired  effect.  His  last  scene  corresponded  with  the 
whole  tenor  of  his  life.  Not  a  groan,  not  a  complaint  escaped  him  in  extreme 
distress.  With  perfect  resignation,  and  a  full  possession  of  his  reason,  he  closed 
his  well  spent  life. 

TOBIAS  LEAR. 

The  President  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  add,  that  the  intelligence  of  this  distressing  event  was 
rapidly  spread  throughout  all  America,  and  received  with  the  deepest  symptoms  of 
sorrow  and  regret;  nor  was  there  any  part  of  Europe,  where  those  who  felt  any 
respect  for  integrity  and  virtue,  did  not  consider  the  death  of  General  ^WASH^ 
as  a  public  calamity. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWEu 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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